Plot: What’s it about?
Hollywood has been on a kick lately, trying to scare the crap out of the viewing public. The studios have been feeding us “The Blair Witch Project”, “Stigmata”, “Sixth Sense”, and “The Haunting”, among others. “The Ninth Gate”, directed by Roman Polanski, is yet another thriller with Satan as the central theme.
Dean Corso (Johnny Depp), is a rare book dealer in New York. He is a bit of a sleazy character, willing to do nearly anything for money. In one of the first scenes, we see Corso taking advantage of some clients, “stealing” some rare books without them realizing it. He has a lot of knowledge of rare books, making him a valuable resource for wealthy book collectors. One of these collectors, Boris Balkan (Frank Langella), has a rare book called the “The Nine Gates of the Shadow Kingdom”, purportedly to be written by Satan himself. There are only three copies of this book known to exist. One of them supposedly has magical powers, and unlocking the secret of this book is said to unleash Lucifer. Balkan hires Corso to track down the other two copies, and do anything to get them. Balkan and Corso have a love/hate relationship. Corso would rather not deal with Balkan, but Balkan has the money to keep Corso happy.
The search for the other two books takes Corso to Europe, first to Spain and then to France. Along the way, Corso encounters others who would stop at nothing to get these books. One, Liana Telfer (Lena Olin), seems intent on getting the book that Corso possesses. A mysterious figure, credited as The Girl (Emmanuelle Seigner) shadows Corso’s every move. As Corso gets closer to the truth behind these books, his life hangs in peril.
This DVD has a lot to offer. This movie has a European feel to it, not surprising since most of it was shot in Europe. The cinematography is beautiful, with the scenery in Spain looking particularly gorgeous. Polanski manages to keep the suspense building and building throughout the film. I instantly felt uneasy from the first scene. Polanski effectively pans the camera through many of the scenes. Johnny Depp’s performance is wonderful, allowing the audience to sympathize with this unsavory character. Interestingly, his stylish facial hair makes him look a little like the stereotypical Satan. Lena Olin reprises the “psycho-bitch” character that I fondly remember from the movie, “Romeo Is Bleeding”. She plays this character so well, that I wish she had a more visible role in the film. I also liked the character played by Frank Langella. His Dracula days are well behind him, but he performed admirably as Boris Balkan. Another strong aspect of the film is the haunting music score, by Wojciech Kilar. It was well suited to the on screen action, and helped build the suspense in the film. When I whistle a few notes of the music score the day after watching a DVD, I know it was effective for me.
Where this DVD fell short was that the suspense building throughout the film did not go anywhere. I kept waiting to be scared “witless” but it did not happen for me. I would call this a “subtle” thriller, if you will. I guess I am used to the typical “in-your-face” horror movies, and the politeness of this film ultimately did not work for me. Artisan Entertainment and Roman Polanski, however, have put together a fine DVD, and if you look at this film as more of a suspenseful drama rather than a thriller, you may enjoy it.
Video: How does it look?
The video quality of this DVD is first rate. It is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it is anamorphic. As I mentioned above, the cinematography is beautiful. The wide aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is used effectively, with a lot of visual information in the extreme edges of the picture. There is a good mixture of outdoor and indoor scenes, and dark and brightly lit scenes. The shadow details show up nicely on this DVD transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
This is another good sounding DVD, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The musical score adds a lot to the mood of the film. Although the surround sound is not enveloping in every scene, the audio displays an effective use of the surround channels in many scenes. In chapter 24, “Mumbo Jumbo”, the echoes give a real sense of the hall that the characters are in.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This DVD has many of extras listed on the back cover., There is a commentary by Roman Polanski, and one can watch the DVD with the music score alone. A short featurette is available as well. Some of the features listed, such as “A gallery of Satanic Drawings” and “Storyboard Selections”, were either not on this DVD, or may be accessed in some hidden way. I was not able to “unlock” these features if they do exist.
